Trump replaces Ric Grenell as Kennedy Center head

Donald Trump has announced that Ric Grenell, the longtime Republican foreign policy adviser who oversaw far-reaching changes at the Kennedy Center, which prompted many artists to abandon the performing arts venue, will be replaced by Matt Floca, vice-president of operations at the center.Trump made the announcement on social media that he has replaced Grenell, thanking him for the “outstanding work he has done”. Floca was photographed in December personally overseeing the addition of Trump’s name to the center’s facade. Grenell’s departure comes as the Kennedy Center prepares to close this summer for a two-year renovation.Earlier in the day, as US forces remain engaged in combat with Iran, Trump shared renderings for the renovation of what he called the “new, highly improved, TRUMP Kennedy Center!”Grenell, long known for his hyper-aggressive confrontations with journalists and political rivals on Twitter and then X, served as US ambassador to Germany and then acting director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term. He was appointed despite no prior arts experience.Grenell was a central player in Trump’s push to dramatically overhaul the Kennedy Center following the president’s return to office. After mostly ignoring the center during his first term, Trump made it a focal point in his war against “woke” culture. He ousted the Kennedy Center’s previous leadership and replaced it with a hand-picked board of trustees who voted to rename the facility the Trump Kennedy Center, a change scholars and lawmakers say must be initiated by Congress.More recently, Trump’s name was physically added to the building’s facade.The fallout from the arts community was swift and intense, with prominent musicals, such as Hamilton, canceling performances. Actor Issa Rae and author Louise Penny also withdrew from appearances while consultants such as musician Ben Folds and singer Renée Fleming resigned.Last week, the executive director of the National Symphony Orchestra, Jean Davidson, left to head the Los Angeles-based Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts.The venue became something of an extension of Trump’s White House during his second term. The president was instrumental in convincing Fifa president Gianni Infantino to hold the World Cup draw there in December. Just a few days later, Trump himself hosted the Kennedy Center honors, the first for a president.A source “familiar with the White House view” told CNN that Trump blames Grenell for doing a bad job of managing the publicity for the Kennedy Center during his tenure. The president apparently blames Grenell for artists cancelling appearances after Trump had appointed himself chair of the center’s board, and then had his name added to the exterior wall of the center, despite lacking congressional approval for changing the name of the memorial to his assassinated predecessor.Grenell emphasized what he called “commonsense” programming, aiming to steer the Kennedy Center toward events that appealed to a broad audience and did not lose money. But his moves prompted criticism from many Democrats on Capitol Hill.Grenell was rumored to have been in contention to be Trump’s second-term secretary of state, after he brokered a limited economic agreement between Serbia and Kosovo in 2020 that the president falsely portrayed as ending the war between the two former Yugoslav regions which concluded decades earlier.As the independent journalist Jacqueline Sweet reported a week after the 2024 election, Grenell deleted more than 6,371 of his old posts on Twitter, now X, including tweets as far back as 2012 when he joined Mitt Romney campaign as foreign policy spokesman, before being ousted after just weeks when his abrasive posts came to light.According to Floca’s LinkedIn page, he joined the Kennedy Center in January 2024, during the Biden administration.A center press release from the time describes him as “an experienced facilities management professional with a construction management background and an appreciation for whole building design principles.”